Here is a good story about a landscaper in Alabama that has had success in advertising his business online and making use of social media. (Social media is a type of online media that expedites conversation as opposed to traditional media, which delivers content but doesn't allow readers/viewers/listeners to participate in the creation or development of the content.) http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/socialmedia/g/socialmedia.htm

The flyers for the 10th Annual 5-day NOFA Course in Organic Land Care are available for you to share with others. Please e-mail RJ, or call at 203-888-5146 for copies of the flyer. Help grow this incredible movement that we belong to.

HERNDON, Va. - Cell phone in hand, AOLCP Matt Kucik was having a busy Wednesday, driving to check on a residential client's front walkway. His four-year-old business, Meridian Landscape, had its best year ever in 2009 and was busier than usual in August 2010.

"I think the economy is definitely turning, people seem to be fixing up their houses and doing this year, what they perhaps had put off last year," said Kucik, who took the MA 5-day course in January 2010. "The bottom line is the economy is improving."

While not to the degree it has become popular in New England, Kucik said organic land care is "absolutely" catching on in northern/central Virginia, where he cares for commercial and residential properties offering design/build and maintenance services. To read more.

Request for photographs - Bill Duesing, Director of CT NOFA, would like to use photos of vegetable gardens that you have installed for clients, or photos of your own gardens. Bill will use the photos at a presentation for the CT Grounds Keepers Association on January 27, 2011. Credit will be given to the person and business whose photos are used at the presentation. Please send your photographs to Bill, at bduesing@mac.com

Discount on ELA Conference Registration Available. If you are a current NOFA Accredited Organic Land Care Professional, you can receive a discount on your registration to the Ecological Landscaping Association Conference, "Staying Ahead of the Curve," happening March3, 2011 at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass.

The ELA Conference is a great way to earn your annually required re-accreditation credits, too. To receive the discount, please enter the password "AOLCP fiddlehead" either on the online registration form or printed registration form. Hope to see you there!

Interns. If you are considering hiring interns for next year, consider contacting the UMass Turf Program. For further information contact Michelle DaCosta 413-545-2547

New England Wild Flower Society Announces 2010 Awards - The Connecticut Award was given to John Picard of Clinton, CT, for his leadership at Willard Island, working with more than 100 volunteers from throughout CT converging in Hammonasset State Park to do battle with a 10-acre tangle of invasive species, including oriental bittersweet, Japanese honeysuckle, autumn olive, barberry, and others.

The following classes and events have been approved for OLC credits. In order to see a complete description of an event and the number of credits that will be awarded for attendance please go to the credit opportunities page of our website. When you click on an event title, a complete description, including time, place, registration information, and number of credits will open.

Water is an essential, non-renewable component of the environment and moves through the environment continuously in a process known as the water cycle. Under natural conditions, some rainwater soaks into the soil and is then taken up by plants or moves deeper into the groundwater system and some flows overland as runoff. Adding impervious surfaces increases water runoff and decreases infiltration. When the land surface is changed-- through soil compaction, loss of vegetative cover or building of structures and paving of roads and parking areas--impermeable surfaces increase. Rainwater can no longer soak into the ground and instead runs over the surface to the nearest down-slope water body, creating flooding problems.